Charles Spencer, brother of Princess Diana, recently revealed details about his original eulogy for his sister. He gave a revised eulogy at the Princess’ funeral in September 1997, after a car accident took her life in Paris when she was just 36 years old.
Charles revealed his original eulogy was quite different than what he ended up giving. Rather than reminiscing, he decided to focus on being her voice.
Charles Spencer has revealed his original eulogy for late sister Princess Diana
On the October 24 episode of Gyles Brandreth’s Rosebud podcast, the Earl recalled he first looked for someone else who could give the eulogy, but was unsuccessful. After speaking with his mother, Charles realized that he would be giving the eulogy. On the podcast, he recalls his mother responding, ‘Well, it is going to be you. Your sisters and I have decided it.’
The Earl remembers first putting together a traditional eulogy, then had a revelation. He realized that rather than speak about Diana, it was his duty to speak for his sister. “And I knew I’d been left at that stage – it had no legal standing – but I knew she’d left me as guardian of her sons [Prince William and Prince Harry],” Charles said. “Obviously, the other parent being alive, that meant nothing, but it meant something to me. That sort of duty, I think. And then I wrote it in an hour and a half and, yeah, that was it, really.”
The 9th Earl Spencer’s revised eulogy reportedly angered the Queen. When he said, “Someone with a natural nobility who was classless and who proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic” and “I pledge that we, your blood family, will do all we can to continue the imaginative and loving way in which you were steering these two exceptional young men so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition, but can sing openly as you planned,” it created conflict within the royal family.
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